Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show Drummer Ed Shaughnessy Dies at 84

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May 26, 2013 at 12:58 PM

Longtime Tonight Show drummer Ed Shaughnessy died Friday in his Calabasas, Calif., home of a heart attack, the Los Angeles Times reports. He was 84.Shaughnessy was a three-decade fixture of Doc Severinsen's Tonight Show Band in a time in ...

Longtime Tonight Show drummer Ed Shaughnessy died Friday in his Calabasas, Calif., home of a heart attack, the Los Angeles Times reports. He was 84.

Shaughnessy was a three-decade fixture of Doc Severinsen's Tonight Show Band - in a time in which more of a big-band feel ruled the show. He played drums from 1963 to 1992 in the Johnny Carson era, leaving when Jay Leno stepped in as the show's new host.

Shaughnessy was a 2004 inductee to the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame.

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Watch Shaugnessy play drums to "Johnny's Theme" at May 2012's Chicago Drum Show: